Meet Tom's Sulcatas

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elvis

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Tom thank you so much for that beautiful story and your kind words. I thought I was doing pretty good until I just read that : ( We all really miss her. I KNOW she is in the BEST of hands. The great news is Elvis is completely back to normal. I've got my good buddy back : ) I certainly hope some will learn from my story, why its not always a good idea to buy 2 sulcatas
 

Carlos83

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Great story Tom thanks for sharing :cool: must be nice to have the space you got
I Would love to show my son all ur torts one day take him on a field trip to Toms :p
 

taytay3391

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Jeebus they are gorgeous, the soft colored sudans.

Those wild ones still look so small! Glad they're all doing well though.

Do I want one? Of only. I live in the middle of bum truck Iowa. One day I hope I could afford the move, pen, and upkeep.

Thoroughly enjoyed this thread Tom, thanks!
 

shellysmom

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Great photos and info, Tom. I love the pic of Daisy swimming!! Too cool!
 

JayMillz

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That's a nice family you got there Tom. In 2002 that same care sheet had made its way to Minnesota. "Yeah they like it dry, just like the desert." "Oh yeah, you don't need to feed them all that often, there's hardly anything to eat in the desert." Shelly spent her first couple years in Timothy hay, eating the fruity pebbles looking tortoise food (soggy) with occasional dark greens (with supplements at least). Then when I got NewGuy about 4 yrs ago his owner got on me for the hay so I built them a 6 x 6 ft box (in my dining room, 1 bedroom apt) and brought over 1000 pounds of dirt and sand into it, lets just say I wasn't getting my security deposit back when I moved out of that place...or the next one either. About 3-4 months ago I joined TF and I'm glad I did, I've learned a lot of new stuff that's really beneficial for my pair. Thanks to you Tom and all of the other veterans on here! I'm at the University of Minnesota for their Animal Science program, 1st semester here but I've already knocked out all of my generals and "useless classes". I'm taking animal nutrition right now, we haven't got to tortoises yet :p we are focusing more on farm animals I guess, monogastrics vs ruminants. But if anyone has any specific questions about their diets I can ask my professor and try to find out for you. The only real knowledge I've learned about my Sulcatas that I can pass on to you guys is disputable and I see it pop up on here in a thread from time to time and that's about temperature. (Sorry lol I'm not trying to hijack your thread and any mods feel free to move this to an appropriate location). When I was in Arkansas I left mine outside in a fenced in back yard 24/7 until temps would go into the 20s then I'd bring them in. Probably too low but they had a shelter with blockage from the wind and a big heat lamp for each of them inside it. They'd go there at night but during the day (even with some wind) they would graze around with temps in the 40s, so I think they can acclimate to the weather a bit more than we give them credit for. Anyways, I like what you got going on with your torts and can't wait to finish school and relocate back down south and have a set up like yours!
 

DaisyDuke

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Awesome story. Great pics. Poor Tulee:( I hope she's okay.
 

SamB

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WOW Tom, they all look great!!

So when is the Petting Zoo open? I might stop by LOL
 

Yvonne G

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Jacqui said:
:D I see you have a real beauty there in your Sudan group. :D

Ah, yes...the split scute. I missed that the first time viewing!


And Tom, thanks for sharing these pictures with us. I LOVE how Daisy looks now.
 

Momof4

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Thanks for sharing your passion with us! I really enjoyed reading it.
What were those nice green plants in the hatchling enclosure?
 

Tom

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Momof4 said:
Thanks for sharing your passion with us! I really enjoyed reading it.
What were those nice green plants in the hatchling enclosure?

There is a whole lotta stuff in there, but the majority of the big green stuff is pumpkin and squash. The leaves grow up very quickly and make a nice shade canopy. Plus the leaves and blooms are good for them to eat. There is also collard greens, clover mix, pasture mix, mallow, sow thistle, filaree and whatever else pops up. I also throw in whole leaves of dandelion, alfalfa stems with leaves and flowers, young cactus pads, and various leaves from my Testudo mix that I got from Tyler at tortoisesupply.com.
 

lovelyrosepetal

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I love your tortoises, Tom! They are so pretty. I think that your pyramided ones are cute also. I love your story and hope to hear more about your experiments. I always love to read your threads. Keep them coming!:)
 

DesertGrandma

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Great post Tom. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
 

Tom

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BodaTort said:
Sulcatas can swim??? Really ? Tom your tort are so amazing and so impressed with all your experiments with the various torts to determine best way to raise them. Thank you for all the info you give out to us newbie tort parents.

There was a thread on this a couple of yeas ago. There was some debate each way about whether or not they could do swim. I decided to just go answer the question. That pic pretty much ended the argument. :D
 

Carlos83

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SamB said:
WOW Tom, they all look great!!

So when is the Petting Zoo open? I might stop by LOL

Right ! ! Put me down for two :D
I would like to see them AWESOME enclosures :cool:
 

Dizisdalife

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Thanks for sharing the pictures Tom. Daisy, especially demonstrating that pyramiding could be stopped, was an inspiration to me when I first join the forum almost two years ago. Her story is very similar to my tortoise, Chuck. Thanks too for all the effort you put into helping us all raise healthier, smoother sulcata.
 
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